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ernieball5150's Replies
> and doesn't deem herself better or worse than Jimmy.
As of Monday, that appears to be changing.
Many folks have noted that when a masked Walt and Jesse hold Saul at gunpoint in s2e8 of Breaking Bad, he panickedly tells them "It wasn't me! It was Ignacio!"
Yes, and Jimmy already knew this, because a doctor proved it to him when Chuck was hospitalized in season 1.
I replied with my take in the thread below:
[url]https://moviechat.org/tt3032476/Better-Call-Saul/59089af5a43d0e0011d74dc7/Chucks-Duplicate-Tape-EP-0304?reply=59119ac3607cd6001160f167[/url]
The playing of the tape and Chuck's testimony about why he sounds deranged on it were necessary to get the panel to permit Jimmy to cross-examine about Chuck's illness. The battery shenanigans would have been stricken by the panel otherwise. Kim and Jimmy knew that the playing of the tape would help them, that's why "Bingo".
The tape, Chuck's testimony about the tape, and Chuck's rant from the battery bit helped Jimmy sell the narrative of "I was only trying to save my crazy brother, but he has a huge axe to grind."
If the tape hadn't been played at all, the simple facts of the case --without the mitigating context of "Jimmy as rescuer"-- might have been enough to get Jimmy disbarred. But Chuck couldn't bear to "take that chance". Oops.
My chicken killed his dog.
All the LPH training videos get posted on AMC's official Saul website (don't know if any regions are blocked):
http://www.amc.com/shows/better-call-saul/exclusives/los-pollos-hermanos-employee-training
Good question. I don't have a satisfying answer, but I still think they'll go that direction and some rationale for their admissibility will be concocted by the creative team of the show.
I think the pictures are going to used as evidence that Chuck is a hazard to himself. Jimmy noted in particular the placement of a gas lantern on top of a newspaper in one of the photos. I think this will be part of Jimmy defense before the disciplinary board: he was only trying to protect Chuck from himself.
I think they *want* the tape played, because together with Mike's evidence about Chuck being a loon and a hazard to himself, it will help them convince the disciplinary board that Chuck is mentally incompetent and Jimmy on the tape was only telling him what he wanted to hear (which will also place the rest of Jimmy's conduct with Chuck in a more compassionate light).
Kim was merely playing Br'er Rabbit to confirm that another copy exists and to make Chuck believe they're afraid to have it played.
Also, because Jimmy's agreed written "confession" omits specific mention of a "cassette tape", there may be an angle of using Chuck's submission of the tape as evidence as a contra-indication of any "destruction of evidence" by Jimmy. Even though Howard and the PI were present, they didn't witness any evidence as to what Jimmy may have *thought* was on the tape he destroyed, and again, Jimmy's written "confession" specified only "an item of personal property".
I think Chuck *believes* he's the good guy. And I do think there's a kernel of truth to Chuck's criticisms of Jimmy, though I don't think his cruelty to Jimmy is justified.
Chuck is clearly jealous, and he's in denial about it. Chuck lacks Jimmy's charm, and he resents the way that charm makes many situations "easier" for Jimmy. Lots of Chuck's opinions about Jimmy and his parents are almost certainly true, but what's tragic is Chuck's chronic unwillingness to ever give Jimmy the benefit of the doubt (though Chuck would claim that I only say that because "you don't know my brother as well as I do"). Whenever Jimmy tries to better himself, Chuck undermines him, and then Jimmy sinks to meet Chuck's expectations. This is why season 1 was so important. That "chimp with a machine gun" speech sums up Chuck's refusal to believe that Jimmy can better himself, despite what he said on the sidewalk last week while they were waiting for the cops to come arrest Jimmy. The Sandpiper Crossing case was a perfect opportunity for Chuck to nurture Jimmy along a more "noble" path, but he refuses to give him a chance.
I think the hospital scene was just a microcosm of the family dynamic that had been simmering so many years. Chuck's perception is that his parents always liked Jimmy more than him, even though Chuck was "good" and successful, and Jimmy was "bad" and a screwup. Chuck believes that Jimmy has everyone fooled but him, including their parents, and I think he resents that his parents didn't see Jimmy through the same eyes as him. In Chuck's view, his parents were *victims* of Jimmy, but they couldn't see it (or refused to see it). In Chuck's mind, their parents' continued doting on Jimmy was profoundly undeserved/unfair/unjust. Plus, from what we've seen, their parents were simple working-class people, and Chuck might feel they never fully appreciated the significance of his own accomplishments.
Just as we've seen Jimmy struggling and craving approval from Chuck, it seems Chuck had a parallel struggle for approval from their parents, while he perceived Jimmy as getting a "free ride".
Judging by Jimmy's interaction with that local prosecutor, Jimmy's "angle" was that he figured he'd most likely be able to easily "plead down" with one of the locals. And the way he was beating himself up talking to Kim implies he really was blindsided by Chuck's scheme.
I think what will save Jimmy when it goes to trial is Chuck's performance on the witness stand.
It amazes me that Harvey can pull all this off when Elwood is the only one who can see him.
I don't think he recognized the sound of the particular car, but I think he knew Jimmy and Mike were out there, and he was merely noticing that one of them had left. It's showing that Gus knew something was up.
Also, I enjoy how knowing what we know, everything Gus says carries ominous overtones: "If it's in there, I'll find it..."
I think -- as Chuck's incorrect prediction about Jimmy's timing showed -- that destroying evidence was only a secondary aim of Jimmy, and the main reason he went over there was to confront Chuck. Jimmy is upset about how little Chuck values their relationship, and that's the reason he didn't play things smarter. I think to him, destroying the tape and threatening to burn the house down was more symbolic than being about the tape itself.
The worst thing that could happen to Chuck would be for him to convince himself that Jimmy "tricked" their parents into loving Jimmy more, even though Chuck was always the "good boy", and it has already happened.
If the "Ernesto related to Gus" theory turns out to be true, and Chuck tries to bury Ernesto for trying to help Jimmy, things could get complicated...
I love that their first conversation ever, begins with Jimmy literally with his head in a garbage can.
If he's in the hospital unresponsive and without next of kin, or if he has no ID (or ID that raises a red flag), the hospital might choose to involve the police.